Based on the recommendations of the PAL Technical Advisory and Standards Setting committees, the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education has established the performance assessment standards for PAL. These requirements are outlined in this memo from Liz Losee, Assistant Director, Educator Effectiveness.

The PAL rules are an abiding agreement between the candidate and the PAL administration team. By registering for PAL, the candidate agrees to abide by the current Rules of Assessment Participation for PAL and all procedures and policies contained in the current PAL Candidate Assessment Handbook and this website.

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is pleased to release the new PAL Candidate Assessment Handbook for the 2017–18 program year. This update includes a number of refinements to improve the clarity of instructions, required work products, and scoring.

The PAL assessment policies for candidates include information about the cost to register for the PAL assessment, and policies for Withdrawals, Refunds, Duration, Resubmissions, Score Confirmations, and Plagiarism. Candidates should read and understand these policies before they register to take the PAL assessment.

This is a memo from the MA ESE department on the participation requirements for, and use of, videotaping with PAL. MA ESE is looking for superintendents and principals to support candidates as they work within their schools and district to attain permissions for the video recording. The video recording is an essential component of Task 3, because it allows the candidate to provide authentic visual evidence of conducting observations, providing thoughtful feedback, and offering support to a teacher.

This is an example of a district consent form for candidates to obtain their superintendent's permission to complete the work for Task 3 (Leadership in Observing, Assessing and Supporting Individual Teacher Effectiveness). This model form explains the project, the task the candidate will be completing and asks the superintendent to grant the candidate permission to gather the information and video-record both the teacher observation and the post conference meeting. Candidates should consult with their program faculty and district supervisors about requirements to obtain formal district consent and use district-required forms, if available. Otherwise, we recommend that candidates use this form.

This is an example of a teacher consent form for candidates to obtain a teacher's permission to complete the work for Task 3 (Leadership in Observing, Assessing and Supporting Individual Teacher Effectiveness). To complete his or her assignment as part of Task 3, a candidate will gather relevant information about the teacher and his or her class, conduct a pre-observation, observe, the volunteer teacher and video recording one or more class lessons, meet and video record a post-observation meeting, and solicit the teacher's feedback. This form explains the project, the task the candidate is completing, explains the confidentiality of the student and grants the candidate permission BY THE TEACHER to provide information required for the candidate to complete the task and video-record both the teacher observation and the post conference meeting. Candidates should consult with their program faculty and district supervisors about requirements to obtain teacher consent and use district-required forms, if available. Otherwise, we recommend that candidates use this form.

This is an example of a parent consent form for candidates to obtain permission to video record their children's classroom as part of observation work for Task 3 (Leadership in Observing, Assessing and Supporting Individual Teacher Effectiveness). This form explains the project, the task the candidate is completing, explains the confidentiality of the student and obtain parent consent for the candidate to have permission to video-record the classroom as part of a teacher observation. Candidates should consult with their program faculty and district supervisors about requirements to obtain parent consent and use district-required forms, if available. Otherwise, we recommend that candidates use this form.

This is an example of a student consent form for candidates to obtain permission to video record the classroom observation work for Task 3 (Leadership in Observing, Assessing and Supporting Individual Teacher Effectiveness) of the Performance Assessment for Leaders. This form explains the project, the task the candidate is completing, explains the confidentiality of the student and obtain student consent for candidate permission to video-record the classroom as part of a teacher observation. Candidates should consult with their program faculty and district supervisors about requirements to obtain student consent and use district-required forms, if available. Otherwise, we recommend that candidates use this form.

On Wednesday, September 30, 2015, from 2:00–3:00 pm, Bank Street College and ESE hosted a webinar for all leadership preparation program faculty and staff on the Massachusetts Performance Assessment for Leaders (PAL). The purpose of this webinar was to share results from the field trial, discuss new policies and procedures for the PAL implementation in Program Year 2015–16, review the score setting process and timeline, and answer questions.